Little Big

- Anthony is down to his last few days of work and we are hanging in there. Thank you so much for all the nice letters, emails, and even in a few cases, presents(!) that you have showered upon us lately. We’ve really needed those good vibes to keep motivated and I feel like we have a whole cheering section behind us with family and friends and long distance friends we’ve never even met before encouraging us t0 keep going. Anthony and I have both experienced many ups and downs throughout this whole process, and some of the lows have been really low. But we have great momentum and a plan and we’re going to go from here. I can’t really say much specifically, other than Anthony has had several interviews with several more lined up, and he’s been busting his ass filling out application after application, even after putting in ten hours on the job beforehand.

- The other day Isobel was pretending to cook food for me, and at one point she handed me a teacup and said, “Here is your yummy hot smoothie, Mama!” I need to teach her how smoothies work.

- Last weekend we accompanied my Mom to a family reunion and we got to see copies of my great-grandfather’s marriage certificate, naturalization papers, and engineer’s license. My Grandma had been keeping them safely in her filing cabinet drawers this whole time. While there Isobel got to meet one of her cousins for the first time and then all the kids jumped in the pool, even though no one brought their swimming suits. We could hardly blame them – the reunion was outside and it was 90 degrees in the shade.

- Speaking of hot weather, we endured the winter without a heater after it broke sometime after Halloween. I can’t say we were comfortable but we only had a few hard freezes so we made it through. We dreaded, though, that a broken heater meant a broken air conditioning, and after trying to use it unsuccessfully we’ve officially announced it DOA. It’s already in the mid-80s Fahrenheit inside in the afternoons. This summer is going to be awful.

- We celebrated a quiet Mother’s Day with a dinner with my parents at our place, and it was so nasty hot we moved the whole party outside and ate on the patio. That was lovely, and it was overall a great day, but both of us were pretty preoccupied with job worry.

- Among the plants we’ve been growing in the garden we have a basil plant that’s doing quite well. Isobel has picked up the habit of plucking an emerald leaf from the plant and shoving it in her mouth each time she walks by. My Mom got such a kick out of this she told me that my daughter smells like an Italian–or in other words, delicious.

- Occasionally Mom will tell me about something cute one of our cats did and she will end the story by saying, “You should write about that on a cat blog. I’ve seen them on the internet.”

- My lovely friend Laura sent Isobel this fantastic tutu and the fantastic Jett sent us this gorgeous handmade bedspread, which Isobel confiscated immediately and dubbed “the rainbow blanket.” I’m not sure what Isobel loves more, getting presents (because, let’s face it, that’s up there), or getting mail.

- Last weekend we celebrated a double birthday for friends Melynda and Lupe and Mel made herself a rainbow cake. There was some hand-wringing and worry involved since at first the layers seemed to be dull and brownish, but fortunately that was just part of the crust, because the moment we cut into it a goddamn rainbow came out. It looked fantastic.

- I heard Isobel lamenting to one of her classmates, “I only have four kitties.” Poor, poor thing.

Reuse Roundup: DIY Heart Clip. This was a great clip because it took about five minutes, cost barely anything, and Isobel loves it.

Scrapbook: My Mom. A baby photo of my mother looking absolutely terrified. It’s adorable!

Little Big’s Thrifty Mother’s Day Gift Guide. You don’t need to wait for a holiday for these babies.

Little Big Bazaar: The Best of Little Big Sponsors.

Oakland International Cat Video Film Fest. There goes my productivity for the rest of the year! Thanks, Anthony.

Showjumping Rabbit Videos. For when you’ve run out of cat ones. Via @markasaurus

The most important thing men can do to end rape culture.  Via @99golems

NASA TV. “Why watch sports when you can watch this?” I used it to watch the Soyuz touch down safely. Via @kellyasterisk

Don’t make fun of renown author, Dan Brown. “And that, ladies and germs, is how you review a Dan Brown book.” Via @halcyonsnow

Snapshot 05.30.12 - I’m like Bruce Banner, except my secret is I’m always tired.

Recipe: Sweet Seaweed Popcorn - This is really delicious. You’ll have to trust me.

Scrapbook: Melynda’s DIY Murder Mystery Party – This was lots of fun.

Snapshot 5.23.13 – Last year at this time Anthony had his first surgery.

I answer a reader question once a month. Do you have a question for me? I’d love to answer it! If it’s a short one I’ll answer it here. If it’s more complicated, I’ll give it its own post. You can leave your question in the comments, @-reply me on twitter, email it to me at alittlebigblog@gmail.com or send me a messenger pigeon. Don’t actually do the last one, though. My cat will eat it. Be sure to let me know if you want me to include your name and link to your blog or shop. Anonymous questions are fine, too.

- The news is there’s no news, which means the probability that we will have to move is looking more and more likely. Anthony’s had a couple job offers but we’re still trying to work out the details and figure out what’s best for our family. My fingers are tipped with painful nubs where the nails should be and my eyes are dry from crying. I should probably end this on a positive note. I am not currently on fire.

- Isobel has started drawing. I’ve been waiting for this with bated breath because children’s drawings are my favorite things in the whole wide world. She’s been drawing suns and jellyfish and flowers and yesterday she even drew a convincing portrait of Zorro.

- My friend Scott had the most wonderful idea for a housewarming party when he turned his driveway into a “cafe” with tables and chairs. His front yard has a weird little platform that we used as a stage. Several people played piano, and if we do it again, I’m tempted to bring my flute. Or Isobel’s accordion.

- This weekend I was at a housewarming party and my friend Stefanie and I finally got the chance to sing Time of My Life together. (This wasn’t actually on my life list, but it should be, so I’m adding it in right now so I can cross it off.) Here’s  the thing about that song: I hate it. I really, really hate that song and I always have, and one day Stef and I were talking about songs we absolutely hated when this song came up. We made a pact to sing it together at karaoke sometime, and let me tell you, it was amazing.

- A few of us decided to sing Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap some time afterwards, and it reminded us of Anthony’s step brother, who used to swear the lyrics were thirty thieves and the thunder cheeks.

- When Anthony and I are together, Isobel likes to refer to us as “you two.” As in, “Hey you two! Be quiet over there!” or “What are you two talking about?!”

- I don’t know where she gets it.

- My friends Ellen and Ivan hosted a taco party (not a euphemism) on Cinco de Mayo and we finally got to meet their newest son, Luke. He is so smooshable. Isobel and Kingston spent their time there alternately playing together sweetly (sometimes in a giant box) or being insanely ornery. Ah, don’t you just love this age? Ellen and Ivan made several different types of guacamole and their feta and basil version was so fantastic I’ll have to share the recipe here when I get a chance.

- I’ve been looking at a lot of different property all over to see what housing options we’d have if we were to move. Some realtors really have huge balls in order to post some of the shit-tastic photos I’ve seen. They were lovely listing-worthy. Such as this listing, which inexplicably features a nasty pile of shoes close-up. How many bad decisions did that realtor have to make in order for that photo to be published? S/he had ample time to think to themselves, “Gee, is this a good idea?” and at each turn instead of employing good judgement they thought HOW ABOUT YES!

- My husband’s sister is pregnant with her first child and is due in just twoish weeks. We went to a baby shower the father’s family threw and we had the good fortune to eat some amazing homemade Colombian food, including arrepas with homemade cheese. They may have been a little taken aback by how many of those I was eating. In between bites I should have mumbled, “My family is from Sweden; carbs and cheese are very important to us.” I also ate some lovely nopales and accidentally bit into a jalapeno and then died.

- We had some friends over for piping last week and I got a picture of Isobel and Kingston kissing. Eeeep!

DIY Magnetic Fridge Frames. Honor your refrigerator art.

Scrapbook: Poppy-Colored Dress. Garden times.

In the Garden: Ladybug Q&A with Todd Ugine. Science is awesome.

Little Big Kitchen: Guide To Dried Shiitake Mushrooms. The most important dried shiitake mushroom post you’ll read all year.

BaAka Forest People Play the River Like a Drum. Beautiful.

21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed.

Conflict Kitchen. A take-out restaurant that only serves cuisine from countries with which the US is in conflict.

Homemade Lemonade Base. This is fantastic idea, especially if you have lemons in your yard.

Balloon Baby. My friend Laura takes the cutest maternity photo sets. She started these when pregnant with her first child, Sonora, and is at it again with baby number two. I am especially excited because she has struggled with infertility right along with me.

Fuck this thing in particular. Sums up my feelings about how things have been going since about January.

Scrapbook: SEO For Gangsters. I am well-respected in the gangster community.

Children’s Music Recommendations by Children’s Librarian Julie Jergens. Fantstico.

Scrapbook: Classic. Dammit, Anthony.

Foreign Correspondence: Guest Post by Nic Piper. An officer and a gentleman. Except, not an officer.

I answer a reader question once a month. Do you have a question for me? I’d love to answer it! If it’s a short one I’ll answer it here. If it’s more complicated, I’ll give it its own post. You can leave your question in the comments, @-reply me on twitter, email me or send me a messenger pigeon. Don’t actually do the last one, though. My cat will eat it. Be sure to let me know if you want me to include your name and link to your blog or shop. Anonymous questions are fine, too.